The Ties that Bind Us
by ANNecdotes25
Summary: Beast Boy's whole life is turned upside down when a fire devastates the house he grew up in. How will the other Titans help him to move on to the future? Features an OC; I stuck to his actual backstory as much as possible, but the OC does force a few minor changes. Picks up after Trouble in Tokyo. Rated T, um, just in case (I don't want to get in trouble on my first story!) Enjoy!


Chapter One

**First story :) Let me know what you think! Yes, this will feature an original character, so sorry if you guys don't like those. I tried to keep everything as orderly as possible, and I think all the grammar and spelling is correct, but hey, I could have missed something. Thanks for reading!**

Dusk was Beast Boy's favorite time of day. The young green changeling stood facing the setting sun, carelessly skipping stones out on to the shimmering dark water. Titans Tower loomed behind him, its glass covered walls still glowing in the barely remaining light. The jagged rocks at his feet glinted, mimicking the sprinkle of stars just starting to appear in the cobalt sky. He had always like to come out here and just enjoy some time alone. Sometimes he thought about Terra, a recent mission, or even his days with the Doom Patrol. Beast Boy was grinning at a rock he had gotten to make five large jumps in the water, when his communicator started blinking red.

_Must be trouble_, he thought, slightly annoyed at the interruption of his quiet time. With a sigh he turned around and jogged up to the tower. When he arrived in the common room, the other Titans were already standing in a semicircle around Robin. Behind him, on the screen, was awful video footage of a devastating fire.

"The fire department is there now, but the thing is really raging." Explained the unofficial leader of the Titans. "We have to act quickly; I'll head to the garage to get our vehicles. Beast Boy, we'll need to you to shift into an elephant so you can use your trunk to – Hey! Are you even listening to me?" Robin growled angrily.

But Beast Boy wasn't listening. His gaze was glued to the screen. Sure, the image of house was contorted by flames and smoke, but there was something eerily familiar about it. The wrap-around porch, the flagpole on the left hand side of the yard, the flat roof that sloped up toward the back…

_No._

In answer to Robin's question Beast Boy screamed at the top of his lungs, a tortured, terrified sound that reverberated through the halls of the whole tower. Cyborg pulled his enormous hands over his ears and bellowed "Dude! What was that all about?" But Beast Boy couldn't answer. He was hysterical. All he could do was shriek, a jumble of syllables tumbling out of his mouth.

The first coherent thing he said was directed at Starfire, who stood gaping at her friend. "Don't just stand there!" He ordered, tears stinging his eyes. "We need to go! Go! GO!" He was becoming hysterical again as he burst out of the room. The team sprinted after him, but by the time they had caught up to him, Beast Boy was a cheetah, zooming full speed ahead into the night.

"Perfect!" Cyborg exclaimed sarcastically. "How's the little genius supposed to know where to go if we didn't even tell him where the fire was?"

"Don't worry about that right now." Raven hissed. "The fire is still destroying an innocent civilian home. We need to go. Now. Beast Boy can find his way home if he really gets lost. Besides, he has his communicator. But right now, we need to get in Cyborg's car and go."

"Raven's right." Robin interjected. The four remaining titans ran to the garage. Robin boarded his motorcycle, commanding "Titans, Go!" as they raced to the scene of the disaster.

About 10 minutes later, they arrived to the house. Or, at least, what used to be the house. Giant angry flames still greedily consumed the wood frame as black plumes of smoke billowed up into the night sky. Loud cracks like fireworks could be heard from inside as beams came crashing down. Embers licked the front porch, performing a sinister dance near the entrance of the house.

"I'm glad you're here." The fire chief said to the heroes as they pulled up to the atrocity. "We'll need all systems go in putting this out, so anything you can do to help, we'll take. I'll assign your positions and –"

"Of course, we need to help you, but first, have you seen Beast Boy come here at all?" Robin hated to interrupt orders, but he needed to ask.

The chief paused. "Beast Boy is in the house."

"WHAT?" All four teenagers exclaimed at the same time, panic seizing all of their hearts.

"We told him not to!" The fireman defended himself quickly, putting his big, gloved hands up in a "don't shoot" position. "I even got two of my men to physically hold him back. But he was… distraught. And he just shape-shifted until they couldn't hold him anymore. He tore into the flames without looking back… and he hasn't come out since."

The chief's story made hot tears spring into Starfire's eyes. She started to fly towards the inferno when Robin grabbed her ankle and pulled her back down to the ground.

"I don't need two titans getting killed in there! Stay here and put out the flames!" He barked in command.

"Way ahead of you." Proclaimed Cyborg sternly, as he was figuring out away to attach the fire hose to his turbo cannon. When he had connected himself to the equipment, he stuck out his left arm and a wall of water came crashing down on the house. Robin gave a roundhouse kick to a nearby fire hydrant, sending a waterfall up into the sky, which Raven then directed with her telekinesis towards the fire. Starfire was flying firemen holding hoses up to the top of the house.

The combined efforts of the Titans and the fire department calmed down the pyre. Flames still roared around the landscape, but conditions were definitely improving.

"Once we can get this down enough, I'll go in and look for Beast Boy." Declared Robin.

"No! You told me – " Starfire was about to protest when all of the sudden, her green teammate burst out of the house and stumbled onto the lawn. Laying bridal style in his wiry arms was a brunette girl no more than 15.

Soot and ash coated both of them and they each had some bad burns. However, both were still conscious, no small feat after coming out of that house. The titans gasped, elated to see their friend still alive, and that he had saved someone. By that time, the flames were shrinking even more rapidly, and the fire department was able to handle it completely on their own. The heroes were about to race to their friend when all of a sudden Beast Boy dropped to his knees, the girl still in his arms, and sobbed.

"Stop." Raven ordered quietly. Everyone listened, each standing at least five feet away from Beast Boy. He buried his face into the girl's shoulder and choked on awful sobs. The young brunette hugged him tight as she could around the neck and cried, too. No one knew what to do or say. They felt like they were intruding by watching, but at the same time couldn't look away. So they stared, giving their friend some time.

The fire chief came to stand by Robin's side once every last flicker was vanquished.

"What…happened?" The boy wonder asked, questions racing through his mind at a mile a minute.

"I tried to tell you earlier, but the fire needed immediate attention – "

"Tell me what?" Robin cut him off.

The chief exhaled audibly and sadly. "Robin," he started. "When Beast Boy was being restrained, he kept screaming about how he needed to get in there. We were so baffled by his behavior; none of us knew how to respond. One man asked him why…"

"Why he needed to get in?"

The chief nodded, a lump forming in his throat. "That was Beast Boy's house." He whispered, looking at the green hero, now a pathetic crumpled mess on a dirty, ashy lawn.

**So, that's chapter one! Leave a review and tell me what you think! (Just try not to be mean!) Have a great day, and thanks again for reading!**


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